1. Field of Invention
Virtually all buildings having multiple floors are provided with a staircase to permit the occupants to move therebetween. In residential homes a staircase is constructed from so-called risers and stair treads of calculated dimensions based upon the ceiling height and staircase length.
Traditionally such risers and treads have been fabricated from boards of at least 12 inches in width which are clear of knots and are cut from hardwoods such as oak and other varieties. Because such select hardwood boards are dwindling in supply and extremely expensive when available, stair treads have recently been constructed from a plurality of boards which are more narrow and glued together along their adjacent edges. However, in such a construction process it is difficult to match the grains of the woods so that the glue joints are not visible which is undesirable aesthetically. Differences in the moisture content of the boards can also cause construction problems such as warping of the treads.
In a continuing effort to reduce building costs, plywood stair treads have been utilized in those instances where the stairs are to be carpeted. Modernly, engineered wood products such as particle board, chip board, and Oriented Strand Board (OSB) have been used in floor areas and wall and roof sheathing applications, but have been considered lacking in sufficient tensile strength to be used as stair treads.
Thus, the present invention has been developed to provide a stair tread fabricated from an engineered wood product such as Oriented Strand Board which has suitable mechanical and physical characteristics for use as a stair tread in residential construction.